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We take birthday wishes seriously in Convivia. We keep presents small and homemade, as the real celebration is in the cake. Cakes are dreamed up layer by layer, often years in advance. Miles wishes for his eighth birthday were a stuffed mouse, a watch, pizza for dinner, and a caramel, chocolate, marshmallow and chocolate ganache […]

Position: 8º 38.97′ S 119º 42.738′ E Miles’ birthday was an unqualified success. We woke up at 5am and opened some presents while Vick and I had coffee. We were at the park by 6:30 and were looking at the enormous Komodo dragons by 7. They were really amazing. I’ll admit I was prepared to […]

It’s not an unfamiliar scene on Convivia. It’s the night before a present giving event, and Vick and I are wondering if we should run out and get one or two more things. “We have Ruby’s presents (the most substantial expenditures this year at $24), and my 6″ handmade felt pterodactyl, and… that’s it.” Our […]

One of the things that our kids miss while cruising are typical stateside milestones like the First Day of School. Where I grew up the first day of school was the day after Labor Day, which happens on the first Monday of September. Five year olds begin kindergarten, and while Miles doesn’t turn five for […]

When I heard Zinnia was planning to move to Penrhyn I thought to myself, her mother may never see her again. And I thought that my children may end up moving to a place somewhere in the world, a place so remote that Lonely Planet only has five sentences to say about it.

This was a pretty productive weekend. I had hoped to get started on the Monitor install but instead got all of the New England Ropes (Dyneema) halyards run as well as one of the genoa sheets. I had a very simple method planned for swapping out the old halyards. I was going to tape […]

We had the boat ship shape and ready to rock by the time Deneb and Seren showed up at 10:30. The kids were overflowing with excitement to have little Seren aboard, and just couldn’t wait to show him everything. Seren, warmed up to the chaos and excitement much more quickly than I would have expected (being his […]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how the kids’ childhoods will differ from their contemporaries as a result of this wild adventure we’re about to embark upon. Ruby understands that there are many things we will be giving up to go sailing around the world but I don’t think she’s got the context to […]

It’s the rainy season and several people have expressed curiosity regarding how we might be surviving the inevitable cabin fever. I’ve been very carefully dodging this questions because I have no experience to base my conjecture upon. This weekend we had our first substantial rainstorm (complete with thunder and lightning). As a result I can […]